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FMP – Theatre through time:
RESEARCH:
GREEK
Festivals were put on as a way of honouring gods. Men would perform songs to welcome
the God `Dionysus` and plays were only performed at the `City Dionysus festival`. Athens
was the place used for `these theatrical traditions`.
In early Greek plays, the same individual would act in and direct the performance. As time
went on, only 3 people `were allowed to perform in each play`. Later, `non-speaking actors
were allowed to perform on stage` too. The chorus became a `very active part of Greek
theatre` and music was sometimes played during the delivery of the lines that the chorus
had.
A significant difference between tragedy, comedy and satyr formed. Thespis was considered
`to be the first Greek “actor”`. `Aristotle’s poetics contain the earliest known theory about
the origins of Greek theatre`. Three well known Greek tragedy playwrights are Sophocles,
Euripides and Aeschylus.
`Comedy plays were derived from imitation`. `Aristophanes wrote most of the comedy
plays`. Theatre buildings were called a `theatron`. Theatres were large and open air built on
the slopes of hills. They consisted of `the orchestra, the skene and the audience`. The
orchestra was a `large circular or rectangular area at the centre part of the theatre where
the play, dance, religious rites and acting used to take place`. The skene was a `large
rectangular building situated behind the orchestra, used as a backstage`. Earlier, it was a
tent or hut and later it became a stone structure that was permanent. Due to the number of
people on stage and the large audiences, the theatres were built to accommodate up to
fourteen thousand people.
`Ancient Greek actors had to gesture grandly so that` all of the `audience could see and hear
the story`. Most Greek theatres were constructed to transmit `the smallest sound to any
seat`. Masks `were made from linen or cork` and tragic `masks carried mournful or pained
expressions, while comic masks were smiling or leering`. `The shape of the mask amplified
the actor’s voice, making his words easier for the audience to hear`.
http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Theatre/
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Athens, Greece between 600 and 200 BC
Dithryamb `chronic hymn` was introduced as part of a religious ceremony as a hymn
in the middle of a mass describing Disonyus – the god of fertility & procreation
Lead by a leader of a band of revelers; a group of dancers. Performed by 50 men
dressed as satrys – half human, half goat.
Soon became a competitive subject at Athenian festivals.
“Attic theatre” was used to refer to Greek theatre
534 BC – Pisistratus (ruler of Athens) put drama competitions in to place
Theatre at Delphi, the Attic Theatre and Theatre of Disonyus in Athens constructed
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Plays performed in daytime and competitions spread over a few days
Tragedy – from Greek words tragos – goat and ode – song; due to teach religious
lessons
Greek religion encouraged people to behave and think a certain way
However, there was also a `birth of intelligence and free thought`
Tragedy: Prologue; set the scene, Parados; an ode sung by the chorus as it made its
entrance, 5 dramatic scenes each before a komos; exchange of laments by chorus
and protagonist, Exodus; climax and conclusion
Aeschylus (playwright) added a 2nd character (the antagonist) to act with the first.
Props and scenery introduced.
Earliest play to exist – Aeschylus’s Persians
Died 456 BC – `population grew to 150,000, government embraced democracy and
the arts flourished`
Sophocles – added 3rd character and emphasis on drama between humans instead of
humans and gods
Won 20 competitions
Euripides placed peasants next to princes – balanced feelings
Comedy in Aristotle’s time considered trival and common
New comedy – use of over satire, topicality and the pointed lampooning of
celebrated characters
Aristophane replaced with mistaken identities, ironic situations and ordinary
characters with wit
404 BC – `overrun by Spartans and fell under dominion of Alexander the Great`
http://anarchon.tripod.com/indexGREEKTH.html
ROMAN
Roman theatre was strongly influenced by Greek theatre. `The semi-circular design of the
building enhanced the natural acoustics of the theatre`. The Roman theatre was `built in the
shape of a semi-circle and the amphitheatre was generally oval`. `Roman theatres were
designed for stage plays` and amphitheatres were built for `greater spectacles and shows of
gladiators and wild animals`. The theatre of Pompey was the first Roman theatre. In `the
first stages of the Commonwealth`, theatres `were only temporary and were therefore,
composed of wood`.
Theatres `were designed in the shape of a half circle and built on a level ground with
stadium-style seating where the audience was raised`. Up to 15,000 people could be seated.
The auditorium was sometimes `constructed on a small hill or slope in which stacked seating
could be easily made mimicking the tradition of Greek theatres`. The entrances to the
theatres were important `in order to safely handle the number of Romans in attendance`.
`The surrounding Roman corridor separated the galleries of a theatre were used for
walkways, concentric with the rows of seats, between the upper and lower seating tiers`.
`The theatre didn’t` have a roof, instead awning was pulled over the audience to protect
them from the sun and rain`.
The seating area `was called the Cavea` and was arranged in a wedge shape. The seats were
divided in to `senators, knights and the commons`. The stage was raised to roughly `five feet
high` and was covered with a roof. There was a stage house behind the stage, `doorways to
the left and right` and a curtained central doorway from which the actors made their
entrances`. There was `3-5 doors in the rear wall of the stage`.
`Roman playwrights included Seneca for tragedy and Plautus and Terence for comedy`. The
most famous plays `were the Menaechmi by Plautus and Oedipus by Seneca`. An `actor
spoke the character’s lines and a different actor mimed the part on stage`.
The stage of the theatre `had a curtain that could be lowered in to the stage to reveal a
scene`. Trap doors were used to enter and exit props. Costumes `mirrored traditional Greek
clothing`. They `had a standard design which was a long robe called a Chiton` (tunic). A
himation was often worn over the chiton and they were both coloured to `denote character,
sex and rank`. Female `characters were originally played by men`. (`A purple costume
identified a rich man, boys wore striped togas, soldiers wore shot cloaks, red costumes
indicated a poor man a yellow robe meant the character was a woman, short tunics
indicated a slave and a yellow tassel meant the character was a god`).
Actors `wore a cheap and simple sandal called the Baxa`. It `was made from vegetable
leaves, twigs and fibres. Woven palm leaves were used to make the bottom of the shoe`.
The strap was `made from palm leaves and vegetable leaves in a style similar to modern-day
flip flops`.
http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/roman-life/roman-theatre.htm
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`Women were not allowed to act`
Actors spoke lines, another actor mimed the gestures `to fit the lines` and
background music
If script involved death, `a condemned man would` replace the actor last minute
`and actually be killed on stage`.
The scaenae frons - `the elaborately decorated background of a Roman theatre
stage`
The pulpitum – screen that tended to be made from stone. Divided `the choir (the
area containing the choir stalls and high alter in a cathedral, collegiate or monastic
church) from the nave and ambulatory (the parts of the church to which lay
worshippers may have access)`
A proscenium - `the area of a theatre surrounding the stage opening`
The cavea - `the subterranean cells in which wild animals were confined before the
combats in the Roman arena or amphitheatre`
A vomitorium - `passage situated below or behind a tier of seats in an amphitheatre`
used by crowds to exit once the performance was over
Theatre of Marcellus – survived in Rome. Caesar started it and Augustus finished it
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Stands `on a level ground and is supported by radiating walls and concrete vaulting`
Theatre of Orange – 1st century CE. Seen `by the Roman Authorities not only as a
means of spreading Roman culture to the colonies, but also a way of distracting
them from all political activities`
Free to watch
4th century – Western Roman Empire declined. Christianity was the official religion
and the theatre `was closed by official edict in AD 391 since the church opposed
what it regarded as uncivilized spectacles`
The barbarians took it over and it was used in the Middle Ages as a defensive post
http://www.crystalinks.com/rometheaters.html
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4th century BC - `Romans first experienced theatre`
240 BC – Roman drama started `with the plays of Livius Andronicus`
509-27 BC – Roman Republic expanded and `Rome encountered Greek drama`
2nd century BC - `drama was firmly established in Rome and a guild of writers
(collegium poetarum) had been formed`
Plautus `wrote between 205 and 184 BC`
Terence – 170-160 BC
Gaius Maecenas Melissus – 1st century “comedy of manners”
Seneca – 1st century dramatist
www.Crystalinks.com/romantheatre.html
LITURGICAL DRAMA (MIDDLE AGES)
This `type of play` was performed near or within a church and related to `stories from the
Bible`. However, `such plays were not performed as an essential part of a standard church
service`. The `language of liturgical drama was Latin`.
`The earliest traces of` this are from `manuscripts dating` back to the 10th century. As time
went on, it gradually increased both in length and in sophistication. It particularly flourished
`during the 12th and 13th centuries`. `The most popular themes were derived from colourful
biblical tales` such as Daniel in the Lion’s Den. `Eventually, the connection between`
liturgical drama and the church` was severed completely` due to the plays `coming under
secular sponsorship and they adopted the vernacular`.
http://www.britannica.com/topic/liturgical-drama
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`began with religious and moral themed plays`
Early Medieval period – few records of plays survived because the general
population’s literacy rate was low
Earliest liturgical drama – “Easter trope, Whom do you seek”
This style didn’t `involve actors impersonating characters, but it did involve
singing by two groups`
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Hrotsrit – first recorded female playwright. Wanted `to save Christians from
the guilt that reading Classical Literature instilled in its readers`
`Actors in plays in the late Middle Ages were usually laymen from the town’s
local population`
`A change in interests among popular culture, a change in patronage to the
theatre, and the establishment of playhouses signified the death of the
theatre in the Middle Ages`
10th century - `Hrotsvit, a histrorian and aristocratic canoness from Northern
Germany` - first female playwright
`purpose for writing was to save Christians from the guilt that reading
Classical Literature instilled in its readers`
1501 – `work first published`
12th century - `Secular Latin plays were an important aspect`
12th century - `Religious plays began production outside of the church`
http://www.thefinertimes.com/Middle-Ages/theatre-in-the-middle-ages.html
MYSTERY PLAYS (MEDIEVAL TIMES)
These plays were used to dramatize `key biblical stories from the Creation of the Last
Judgement`. The plays were `usually performed in connection with the new early summer
feast of Corpus Christi (instituted in 1311), the Thursday after Trinity Sunday in June and
may have developed from the processions` that took place on that day.
Records show `that the plays were performed on pageant wagons wheeled through the city
streets`. `Guilds sponsored particular plays and the players were guild members`. The plays
were `full of humour and vitality`. The original authors `would have been clerics`.
Plays that related to the Old Testament were dramatized because they were `seen to
prefigure the central drama of Christ’s life`; for example, `Noah’s flood anticipates the Last
Judgement`.
The mystery plays provided people with the opportunity to `exploit the ways in which their
audiences were steeped in a visual culture that everywhere depicted` sections of the Bible.
http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/medieval/mystery_plays.php
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Usually represented subject matters from the Bible
16th century – church `no longer supported them because of their dubious religious
value`
Professional travelling companies were soon preferred by the general public
Performed `on pageant wagons, which provided both scaffold stage and dressing
room and could be moved about readily`
http://www.britannica.com/art/mystery-play
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600 AD – `fall of Rome` “dark ages”
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4th century - `Bishop of Rome, claiming to be the successor to St. Peter, established
supremacy in church matters and secular concerns`
600-1000 AD - `Little is known about the theatre`
925-975 – drama was `re-introduced into the church services`
12th century - `Crusades helped bring other cultures to Europe`
2 types of stages: Fixed & Moveable
`Simultaneous staging was a distinctive characteristic of medieval theatre`
FIXED – mansions put up in clear space, opposite ends, Heaven and Hell
MOVEABLE – pageant wagons were `moved through the streets` and the audience
would stay in the same place
Church `performed in cycles`: Mystery plays, Miracle Plays, Morality plays
Late 16th century – drama in the `medieval period lost its force`
`Increased interest in classical learning – affected staging and playwriting`
`Social structure was changing – destroyed feudalism and “corporate” nature of
communities`
`Dissension within the church led to prohibition of religious plays in Europe`
Plays `usually performed in connection with the new early summer feast of Corpus
Christi (instituted in 1311)`
16th century – church `no longer supported them because of their dubious religious
value`
http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/medieval.html
NOH THEATRE (14th century)
Noh theatre is Japanese drama. Its name means `“talent” or “skill”`. These performers were
`simply storytellers who used their visual appearances and their movements to suggest the
essence of their tale`.
It `developed from ancient forms of dance and drama and from types of festival dramas`
that took place at temples and shrines. `It became a ceremonial drama performed on
auspicious occasions by professional actors for the warrior class`.
`There are five types of Noh plays. The first type, the kami (“god”) play, involves a sacred
story of a Shintō shrine; the second, shura mono (“fighting play”), centres on warriors; the
third, katsura mono (“wig play”), has a female protagonist; the fourth type, varied in
content, includes the gendai mono (“present-day play”), in which the story is contemporary
and “realistic” rather than legendary and supernatural, and the kyōjo mono (“madwoman
play”), in which the protagonist becomes insane through the loss of a lover or child; and the
fifth type, the kiri or kichiku (“final” or “demon”) play, features devils, strange beasts, and
supernatural beings`.
A typical Noh play is `short and its dialogue sparse`. The program tended to consist of three
plays from the five types. On stage, you would have the `principal actor, the subordinate
actor and the narrator`.
http://www.britannica.com/art/Noh-theatre
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Tokugawa period - `became increasingly standardized with an emphasis on tradition
rather than innovation`
There are 5 troupes which perform to this day
Themes - `dreams, supernatural worlds, ghosts and spirits`
Performed `on a square stage with a roof that is supported at its four corners by
pillars. All side of the stage are open except for the back side which consists of a
wall`
Performers enter the stage using a bridge that is at an angle off the stage
All that perform are male
Masks – 3D `properties allow skilled actors to induce a variety of expressions with
changes in head orientation`
Kyogen – performed at intervals
14th century – originated
`popularized and formalized by a man named Zeami during the Muromachi Period`
(1333-1573)
Tokugawa Period (1603-1867) - `shogunate made noh its official ceremonial art and
issued regulations for its goverance`
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2091.html
ROMAN REVIVALS AND INTERMEZZI (RENAISSANCE)
These were `performed on festive occasions` in the presence of Italian princes. It became
the custom `to have rather more lavish musical entertainment (intermezzi) between the
acts, with spectacular stage effects, beautiful costumes and much singing and dancing`.
`The first intermezzi to be preserved in detail for posterity` were `performed to celebrate a
wedding at the Medici court in Florence in 1589`.
The scenes were close to those that became `familiar to opera audiences over the next two
centuries`.
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=asu
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1564 – Shakespeare and Marlowe born
1572 – Dekker and Johnson born
1574 - `St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in England – Marlowe based his play the
Massacre at Paris`
1576 – Curtain theatre built
1577 - `Raphael Holinshed publishes his Holinshed Chronicles of England, Scotland
and Ireland, the primary source text for most of Shakespeare’s plays`
1580 - `Francis Drake completes his circum navigation of the globe`
1587 - `Theatre Impresario Phillip Henslowe builds the Rose theatre`
1592 - `Marlowe arrested at Flushing in the Netherlands for coining`
1592 - `”The Spanish Tragedy” by Thomas Kyd is published`
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1593 – Theatres closed because of plague
1593 – Marlowe murdered and `Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis published`
1594 – Theatres re-open, Kyd dies and `first recorded performance of Shakespeare’s
Titus Andronicus and The Taming of the Shrew take place`
1597 – Johnson and Nashe “The Isle of Dogs2 leads to Johnson being arrested
1599 – Globe built
1599-1602 - `Johnson battles John Marston and Thomas Dekker with wits and words
in The War of Theatres`
1602 - `Twelfth Night opens`
1605 – Middleton and Dekker’s `”The Roaring Girl” is performed`
1610 – `Johnson’s The Alchemist opens`
1612-1618 – Dekker in debtor’s prison
1613 – Globe burnt down
1616 – Shakespeare dies
1617 – Johnson `named England’s first poet laureate`
1632 – Dekker dies
1637 – Johnson dies
1642 – `English Civil War commences and the Puritan Parliament bans the theatre
and closes the playhouse`
http://www.writersinspire.org/content/english-renaissance-timeline-some-historicalcultural-dates
COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE
This phrase means comedy of the trade which `merely implies professional actors`. This was
often performed in the street, though it would have been performed inside if the premises
were available. `Improvisation and slap stick played a huge part in the performances`.
Each company performed their own material, however some characters were `widely
established` and they became easily recognisable by the masks that they wore. An example
of this is Il Capitano; he bragged about his bravery but was a coward when it came to
danger. He’s `known as Scaramouche in France`.
The Italian example has influenced many countries. In England, Pulcinella evolved `in to
Punch, - the beak nosed wife beater of the well-known Punch & Judy shows`.
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=asu
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No `attempt was made to change the performances dialect from region to region`
The focus was physicality instead of what was said
Minimalistic staging
Arlecchino was a well-known character and `he bare two sticks tied together` and
the noise created a great impact – slapstick was born
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Costumes helped the audience to understand the type of character an actor would
be playing
Males would wear half masks
Female characters didn’t wear costumes or masks as identification
Fixed character types wore coloured leather masks
http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa110800d.htm
LONDON’S THEATRES
`In 1576, an actor James Burbage built a permanent playhouse in Shoreditch`. He called `it
the theatre` and it followed `the architectural form of an inn yard with galleries enclosing a
yard open to the sky`. A second playhouse called the curtain was built in 1577. Next built
was the Rose in 1587 `on the south bank of the Thames` in an area called bankside.
Burbage died in 1597 and two years later, his sons dismantled the theatre and carried the
timber to the other side of the river where they used as the base for a new theatre – the
Globe. This was where Richard – one of the Burbage brothers developed `in to one of the
first great actors of the English stage`.
Ordinary Londoners (the groundlings) stood `in the open pit to watch plays for a penny`,
others would pay a second penny `to climb to a hard seat in the upper gallery` and a third
penny would provide them with `access to the two lower galleries and a seat with a
cushion`.
Around 21,000 people would go to the theatre each week.
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=asu
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1558-1603 – Elizabeth I’s Reign – `known for her cultivation of British drama and
literature`. Possible `that Shakespeare’s works wouldn’t have survived to this day
were it not for Elizabeth I’s support`
1573-1652 – Inigo Jones – introduced proscenium arch
1576 - `first permanent public playhouse` was built
1577-1622 - `The Curtain theatre was built on Curtain Close in Shoreditch`
1592-1594 – Plague meant that between `1592 and 1594 all theatres in London were
closed`
1593 – Marlowe killed
1599 – Globe built
1601 - `2nd Earl of Essex Robert Devereux commissioned a performance of
Shakespeare’s Richard II`. This was `about the overthrow of an unpopular monarch`.
He did `to try and remove Elizabeth I from power`. Tried `for treason and put to
death`
1603-1625 – King James 1st `awarded a royal charter to Shakespeare’s company of
players and they subsequently changed their name to the King’s Men`
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Exclusive performances given before the monarchy “masques” - `became a
fashionable and often expensive leisure activity for royal families all over Europe`
1613 – Globe burnt down `canon used during a performance of Henry VIII started a
fire`
1642 – Puritans thought that the theatre `attracted an indecent crowd`, so all
theatres in Britain were closed for 18 years
1644 - Globe demolished by puritans
1660 – Charles II `inspired he genre of Restoration Comedy which was quick witted,
full of innuendo and cynicism`
1660 – Theatre Royal, Drury Lane built
1662 - `King Charles II issued a royal decree that female roles should only be played
by female actors`
1671 – The Dorset Garden Theatre (now known as the Queen’s theatre) was built
1672 – Theatre Royal’s first fire
1717-1779 – David Garrick `revolutionised acting by playing his characters in a more
realistic way`
1728 – “The Beggar’s Opera” – allegedly first musical in the world
1737 Licensing Act – Lord Chamberlain could get rid of anything he deemed
inappropriate
1791 – Theatre Royal rebuilt
1800 – Theatre Royal and Covent Garden theatre were only 2 patented theatres
allowed to show plays
1809 – Theatre Royal – 2nd fire
1828 – Royal Opera House destroyed by gas explosion
1868 – New Adelphi theatre opened
1880 – Paper “The Stage” first published
1889 – Lyric theatre opened
1889 – Garrick theatre opened
1896 – St James theatre – premiere of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being
Earnest”
1901 – The Apollo theatre opened
1916 – “Chu-Chin-Chow” - `most successful production during World War 1` - based
on Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
1922 – Fortune theatre opened
1929 – Duchess theatre opened
1929 – Great Depression – lack of money for theatrical productions
1930 – Cambridge theatre opened
1930 – New Aldephi theatre opened - `redesigned by Ernst Schaufelberg in a
fashionable Art Deco style`
1930 – “The Intimate Revue” had `the shortest run in West End history` - cast were
laughed off stage
1931 – The Apollo Victoria theatre opened
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1940 – The Blitz – theatres badly damaged
Nov. 1952 – The Mousetrap opened
May 1960 – Harold Pinter (British playwright) “The Caretaker” was his first West End
success
Dec. 1965 – “Saved” by Edward Bond `partly lead to the abolition of the Licensing Act
in 1968` - set in a council estate in London `and examines the poverty of young
people`
Jan. 1968 – Licensing Act abolished
June 1971 – Longest running British comedy, “No Sex Please” premiered
Jan. 1976 – National theatre built
June 1977 – Danmar Warehouse opened - `known for producing some of the most
ground breaking performances in the UK`
Oct. 1985 – Les Miserables opened
March 11986 – Starlight Express at the Apollo Victoria theatre
Oct. 1986 – Phantom of the Opera opened
Jan. 1990 – Inside of the Savoy theatre destroyed by a fire
July 1996 – Globe opened on South Bank
June 2006 – Noel Coward theatre opened
Sep. 2006 – Wicked opened
Sep. 2009 – The Lord of the Rings `became one of the most expensive musicals of all
time`
http://www.londontheatres.co.uk/timeline/
MARLOWE
`Christopher Marlowe was born in Canterbury` and attended the King’s School. He went on
to become a playwright and his plays were performed in London.
He became friends with the poet Thomas Watson which seemed to cause him trouble. The
pair `were arrested in 1589` and were `charged with the homicide of William Bradley`.
On the 30th of May, 1593, he spent the day `at the house of Mrs Eleanor Bull in Deptford`.
He was with three gentlemen when a quarrel took place, it was reported that Marlowe drew
a dagger and injured `one of his companions`. The gentlemen grabbed the weapon and in
defence stabbed Marlowe in the right eye.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/christopher-marlowe
He wrote Tamburlaine parts 1 and 2 which caused great excitement. Its heroicness along
`with the splendour of the blank verse led to its constant revival`. Edward II was his first
successful history play and it was a moving tragedy.
http://www.marlowe-society.org/marlowe/work/work.html
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Born in 1564
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Achieved his bachelor of arts degree – 1584
Rumoured `that he had converted to Roman Catholicism` which caused the
University to hesitate in giving him his degree
Council didn’t specify the nature of hiss `service to England`, but it has been
suggested that he `was serving the government in some secret capacity`
1594 – “Dido, Queen of Carthage” published (first play)
Was an atheist and was therefore arrested as it `was a serious offence, for which the
penalty was burning at the stake`
`Shakespeare’s most important predecessor and is second only to Shakespeare
himself in the realm of Elizabethan tragic drama`
http://www.biography.com/people/christopher-marlowe-9399572#related-video-gallery
SHAKESPEARE
`Shakespeare was baptized in 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon`. He went on to become an
`important member of Lord Chamberlain’s Men company of theatrical players`. He married
Anne Hathaway in 1582. They had a daughter named Susanna and a set of twins Hamnet
and Judith, although `Hamnet died aged 11 from an unknown cause`.
By 1592, he was `earning a living as an actor and as a playwright`. By 1597, `15 of the 37
plays written by Shakespeare were published`. In 1599, `himself and his business partners
built the Globe` and in 1605 he `bought leases of real estate near Stratford`. This `made him
an entrepreneur as well as an artist`.
His `early plays were written with elaborate metaphors and rhetorical phrases that didn’t
always align naturally with the story’s plot or characters`. He `used unrhymed iambic
pentameter or blank verse to structure his plays` and in doing this, he created freedom
through his speech.
`His early plays (aside from Romeo & Juliet) were history plays such as Richard II. He also
wrote various comedies like A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Much Ado About Nothing`.
In his late period (after 1600), he wrote his tragedies such as Hamlet and Macbeth. `During
his final period he wrote the Tempest and the Winters Tale to name a few`. These `ended
with reconciliation and forgiveness`.
It is said that he died on his birthday.
http://www.biography.com/people/william-shakespeare-9480323#related-video-gallery
By 1600, Shakespeare had demonstrated his talent through every kind of play – `except
tragedy`.
Hamlet was Shakespeare’s first `full scale tragedy`, Othello followed and King Lear after
that. These plays are tragic due to the main character in each having actions that `drive the
events and whose flaws make the` consequences unavoidable.
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=81&HistoryID=ab35&
gtrack=pthc
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Robert Greene (playwright) claimed that Shakespeare was an `upstart crow`
1598 - `first work published with his name on the title page` - “Love’s Labour’s Lost”
1598 – Frances Meres (author) `singled him out from a group of English writers as
the “most excellent” in both comedy and tragedy`
Published 154 sonnets with the themes of love, sex and beauty explored
His friends John Heminge and Henry Condell put together 36 of his plays, `including
18 never before printed` - 7 years after his death
2006 – copy `sold for £2.8m`
19th century - `became an important emblem of national pride used to spread the
influence of British imperial power`
1961 – Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) formed
1997 – Globe re-opened
http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/z8k2p39
BEN JOHNSON
Ben Johnson `was an early modern playwright` `and was crowned England’s first poet
laureate` in 1616.
It has not been reported when Johnson first entered the theatre world, however `in 1597 he
was an actor for the Admiral’s Men`. Comedy `The Isle of Dogs` was co-written by Johnson
and Thomas Nashe. When it was performed it caused upset and therefore `Johnson was
arrested`.
He participated in the “War of the Theatres” between 1599 and 1602. He `battled John
Marston and Thomas Dekker by satirizing one another in their plays and poetry`.
The `death of his seven year old son Benjamin` influenced the “Tribe of Ben”. `This was a
group of poets who claimed that they were successors of Johnson. In the mix was Robert
Herrick and Richard Lovelace`.
http://writersinspire.org/content/ben-jonson-renaissance-playwright-renaissance-man
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Attended Westminster School and worked with his stepfather, bricklaying
1592 – Returned from Army
1594 – Married Anne Lewis
Joined `the theatrical company of Philip Henslowe in London as an actor and
playwright`
Killed Gabriel Spencer in a duel. While he was imprisoned `he converted to Roman
Catholicism only to covert back to Anglicism over a decade later in 1610`
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“Every Man in His Humour” (his second play) `was performed in 1598 by the Lord
Chamberlain’s Men at the Globe with William Shakespeare in the cast`
He `satirized other writers, chiefly the English dramatists Thomas Dekker and John
Marston`
Was `called before the Privvy Council on charges of `popery and treason`` due to his
tragedy “Sejanus His Fall” offering an astute view of dictatorship`
Due to having converted to Catholicism, he was `the object of deep suspicion after
the Gunpowder Plot of Guy Fawkes`
1605 – wrote masques `for the entertainment of the court`
Received `an honorary Master of Arts degree from Oxford University and lectured in
rhetoric at Gresham College, London`
1628 - `appointed City Chronologer of London`
1637 – Died and buried in Westminster Abbey `under a plain slab on which was later
carved the words, “O Rare Ben Johnson”`
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/jonson/benbio.htm
ITALIAN STAGE AND SCENERY
It was realized that the stage would look much better if framed and if the scenes could be
rapidly changed.
The `architect Giovanni Battista Aleotti` built the Teatro Farnese which was the first theatre
to be fully `equipped with a permanent proscenium arch`. Scenery was `painted on a
succession of parallel wings`.
Flat wings made a `rapid change of scenery` possible. When scenery was due to be changed,
the front wings would be `pulled out and the rears one pushed in`.
Later, slots were `cut in to the stage so that the flats could rest on linked trolleys below`.
`When a counterweight was released, every pair of wings moved in or out in perfect
unison`. This was stage designers Giacomo Torelli’s invention.
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=81&HistoryID=ab35&
gtrack=pthc
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1485 - `Italian rulers began to finance productions of Roman plays and imitations of
them`.
This encouraged Roman plays to be rewritten in Italian
14th-16th century - `Renaissance drama developed in Italy, marking an end to
medieval practices and a release of traditional Roman ways of presenting drama`.
1580-1584 – The Teatro Olympico was constructed
`Italian architecture was an uninspired and relatively small affair`
Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1466) – Invented `the principals of linear perspective in
drawing and painting`
1419 - `commissioned to build the dome over the cathedral in Florence`
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1419 – building not completed, solved problem by creating new dome that was
`conical and high`
Leon Baltista Alberti (1404-1472) – Known for his architectural books
Perfected `the architectural language of the Renaissance` and is `considered to have
perfected it in terms of symmetry and disposition`
`Renaissance artists and architects applied many humanist principles to their work`
Various `painters began to use a technique called chiaroscuro to create an illusion of
three-dimensional space on a flat canvas`
Teatro Olympico – Designed especially `for the Vicenza Accademia Olympica to stage
theatrical perfomances`
Design: seats on steep tiers formed a half circle
These faced a proscenium stage that was rectangular
Back wall had a central arch with 2 smaller doorways
In these openings, `elaborate stage sets of streets angle backstage, a triad through
the central opening and single streets through each side`
Teatro Farnese design: `first permanent proscenium theatre`
Theatre used for `official state functions` before it was abandoned after 104 years
http://italianrenaissancetheatre.weebly.com/theatres.html
CORNEILLE AND RACINE
Pierre Corneille was a French poet and dramatist. He wrote his first play before he turned 20
and it was supposedly about a `personal love experience`; it was titled Melite. He went on
to write a series of comedies.
In 1647, he `moved with his family to Paris` and attended `the Academie Francais`, having
been rejectd previously due to not living in the capital.
For the next 14 years, he restrained to only writing one play a year. His final play was Serena
and he later wrote some poetry. He was not rich, however not in poverty, but his situation
wasn’t helped `by the intermittent stoppage of a state pension`. He died in his home and
was buried in the Church of Saint Roch.
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Pierre-Corneille
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Born in France in 1606
First play, `”Melite” was presented in Paris in 1629`
1663 - `granted a pension but its payment was irregular and he died in poverty`
theatrehistory.com
Jean Racine was a French dramatist and historiographer. His grandparents took him in at
early age due to the death of his parents. He studied `Latin and Greek literature with
distinguished masters`.
`There were 3 ways for a writer to survive in Racine’s day: to attract a royal audience, to
obtain an ecclesiastical benefice or to compose for the theatre`.
His first successful play was La Thebaide and was about a set of identical twins; one that
attacks and the other defends `their native city of Thebes`.
He was the `first French author to live solely on the income provided by his work`. In 1674,
he was `granted the title of treasurer of France` and later received the `role of ordinary
gentleman of the King and then the Secretary of the King in 1696`.
He died in 1699 from cancer of the liver.
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Racine
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Attended `the school of a religious brotherhood at Port Royal`
His first few bits of work were unsuccessful and he was advised `not to attempt any
more tragedies` by Corneille
1670 – Racine and Corneille asked `to write a play on the subject of Berenice, though
each was ignorant of the fact that the other was attempting the same theme`
12 years – wrote nothing to be presented on the stage
Madame de Mointenon requested that `he produced Esther and Athalie for the
pupils of Saint Cyr, a girl’s school under royal patronage`
`Corneille was more concerned with events, so Racine was more concerned with
character`
`Voltaire sneered about the similarity of his heroes; and the Encyclopaedias of the
next generation disparaged what they termed the access of sensibility in to the
drama`
http://www.theatredatabase.com/17th_century/jean_racine_001.html
MOLIERE
Jean Baptiste Poquelin was Moliere’s real name. He created `12 of the most durable
comedies of all time`. Rhyming verse and prose were used. He had the role of `leading
French comic, actor, stage director and drama theoretician of the 17th century`.
Within the mix of comedy, he wrote comedy-ballets. These depended on an `array of stage
machinery` imported from Italy. `Commedia dell’arte troupes` strongly influenced Moliere’s
work.
Jean was `acquired the pseudonym Moliere`. He `played an unsuccessful season in Paris`
with the acting troupe Illusion Theatre and later went bankrupt. In the time that he had left
to tour the provinces, he `polished his skills as an actor, director, administrator and
playwright`.
`In 1658, the troupe returned to Paris and` performed before King Louis XIV. Moliere’s
patron was the Kings brother and `later Moliere and his colleagues were appointed official
providers of entertainment to the Sun King himself`.
His plays had the same lasting impact as tragedies. The clergy believed that `his plays were
an attack on the Church`; however other `playwrights resented his continual experiments
with comic forms`. `Famous tragedians envied his success with the public and the royal
projection he enjoyed`. Moliere reacted by including `some of his detractors in to his
comedies as buffoons and ineffectuals`.
He `developed a lung ailment` which he never recovered from in the late 1660s. He tried as
he might to continue to act, write, direct and `manage his troupe as energetically as before`.
After the fourth performance of his play `The Imaginary Invalid` (February 17th, 1673), he
collapsed and died at home later that evening. `Church leaders refused to officiate or to
grant his body a formal burial`.
7 years down the line, Moliere’s company was united `with one of its competitors` by the
King. From then, the French National Theatre was formed.
http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/Theatre/Moliere/moliere.shtml
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His style was `comedy of the true opposed to the specious, the intelligent seen
alongside the pedantic`
Was unable to visualize `any situation without animating and dramatizing it, often
beyond the limits of probability`
Born in Paris
Educated at the College de Clermont
1645 – sent to prison twice `for debts on the building and properties`
Oct. 24th 1658 – Company he was a part of performed before King Louis XIV. This
`won him some reputation with provincial audiences`
1662 - `married Armande Bejart`
“L’ecole des femmes” - `bears a quite remarkable testimony to his persistence and
capacity to show fight `
1665 – “Dom Juan; ou, le festin de pierre” - `an atheist is committed to hell – but
only after he had amused and scandalized the audience`
1664 – put on “La Thebaide” – `Racine’s first produced play`
1665 - `Racine transferred his next play, Alexandre le Grand, to a longer established
theatre while Moliere’s actors were actually performing it, which actually turned the
two men against each other`
“Le Malade imaginaire” was Moliere’s final play
`During the fourth performance of the play, on February 17, Moliere collapsed on
stage and was carried back to his house`
In `La Critique L’Ecole des femmes, he states that tragedy might be heroic, but
comedy must hold the mirror up to nature: “You haven’t achieved anything in
comedy unless your portraits can be seen to be living types…making descent people
laugh is a strange business”`
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Moliere-French-dramatist
KABUKI
This `art form was created by Okuni, a female shrine attendant in the 17th century`. It is
performed entirely by men and although greatly influenced by the other farm `noh`, it was a
largely popular form of entertainment.
All-female performances contributed to why the performances were so popular, mainly due
to their sensual nature. The performers were prostitutes and therefore, the male audience
`often got out of control`. Due to this, the Tokugawa Shogunate banned women from
performing.
Ironically, Kabuki was taken over by young male actors who `also engaged in prostitution`
and so audiences continued to get riled up. The Shogunate tried to do the same as they did
with women and instead introduced older actors who performed much more `formalized
and strictly theatrical dramas`.
`Changes were made to the traditional noh stage, such as adding a draw curtain and a
hanamichi (catwalk) through the audience to allow dramatic entrances and exits`.
Chikamatsu Monzaemon was considered to be `Japan’s greatest dramatist`. He spent some
`of his career writing Kabuki dramas although his greatest works were bunraku puppet
plays`. Ichikawa Danjuro (1688-1758) premiered lots of `great works and adapted puppet
plays for the kabuki stage`.
The actors who played the female roles were `known as onnagata or oyama`. The
importance of these roles increased in correlation with the respect that the art form gained.
Onnagata `were required to maintain their feminine persona and dress even in their private
lives, this practice was abolished in the Meiji Restoration of 1868`.
`Kabuki is performed on a large revolving stage`. Kamite (stage left) was where you would
often see the `high-ranking characters` and shimote (stage right) was where you would see
the `lower ranked characters`.
Kata (forms) was performed by the actors throughout generations. For example,
mie/striking an attitude was where the actor’s eyes would be crossed and they would make
an exaggerated facial expression for dramatic effect.
The arragato (`rough style` of acting) was `exemplified by such exaggeration and dramatic
make-up and costume`. `Standard male kabuki roles include the handsome lover, the
virtuous hero or the evil samurai; for an onnagata, roles include the high-ranking samurai
lady, the young maiden or the wicked woman`.
`Traditional kabuki is highly melodramatic but strictly historical`. `Similar to Shakespeare’s
work`, the old stories and characters in the plays are all familiar to those `who are aware.
It’s just that the language itself` is hard to follow.
Although strongly appreciated in its time, it `is no longer of much interest to younger
Japanese people`. Audiences are made up of older people and young refined women.
Chushingura is one of the most famous stories and is greatly known for its `many movie
adaptations`.
http://www.japan-zone.com/culture/kabuki.shtml
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Inspired by Noh theatre
The crows was addressed through frequent interruptions made by the actors
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Often, spectators would only attend `a single play or scene` as the programmes `ran
from morning to evening`
`The theatre stresses the importance of the play itself, trying to maintain the
historical tradition and to preserve Kabuki as a traditional form`
http://www.britannica.com/art/Kabuki
BEAUMARCHAIS
Pierre Augustin Caron De Beaumarchais was a French dramatist. He is the writer of 2
outstanding comedies; the Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro. The hero in both
these plays was Figaro and he was portrayed by Beaumarchais in a class-conscious manner.
Despite growing in popularity, `Beaumarchais was addicted to financial speculation`. He
purchased `arms for the American revolutionaries and brought out the first complete
edition of the works of Voltaire`.
His 2 outstanding comedies were the only ones to remain successful and due to his wealth,
during the French Revolution he was imprisoned, `but through the intervention of a former
mistress, he was released`.
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Pierre-Augustin-Caron-de-Beaumarchais
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Aged 21 - `invented a new escapement for watches, which was pirated by a rival
maker`
Music talent led him to teach the King’s sisters how to play the harp
Worked for `the king’s secret service`
Arrested over money and fighting
Took ` a deep interest in the impending struggle between the American colonies and
the mother-country`
Called himself `Rodrigue Hortalez at Cie, he employed a fleet of forty vessels to
provide help for the insurgents`
2 comedies; Le Barbier de Seville and Le Mariage de Figaro
England - `Figaro plays are generally known through the adaptations of them in the
grand opera of Mozart and Rossini`
Contributed to `the events that led to the Revolution`
Accusations made that he was `concealing arms and corn in his house`
House searched – multiple copies `of the works of Voltaire which he had printed at
his private press at kehl, in Baden found`
Charged with treason and was imprisoned
1799 – died suddenly
1767 - `made his first essay as a writer for the stage with the sentimental drama
Eugenie`
1775 – “The Barber of Seville” `was put on the stage`
1778 – “The Marriage of Figaro” was completed
1792 – drama “La mere coupable”
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1783-1790 – `accused of concealing arms and corn in his house, but when his house
was searched nothing was discovered but some thousand copies of the edition of
the works of Voltaire which he had printed out at his private press at Kehl, in Baden`
1792 - `charged with treason` and imprisoned
www.theatrehistory.com/french/beaumarchais001.html
SCHILLER’S LAST YEARS
Schiller was a leading dramatist, poet and literary theorist. In order for his play Die Ra:uber
to be accepted, he `had to prepare a stage version in which the rebellious ardour of his
original text was toned down`. Its first performance was a `milestone in the history of
German theatre`.
`Schiller travelled to Mannheim without the Duke’s permission` to be present at the plays
first night. When the Duke heard about this, he sentenced Schiller to a fortnight in
`detention and forbade him to write any more plays`. To escape from the situation he had
put himself in, `Schiller fled from Stuttgart` and `set out for Mannheim in the hope of
receiving help from Heribert Baron Von Dalberg, the director of the theatre that had
launched his first play`.
He wrote a new play which was rejected and when he re-wrote the ending, it was rejected
again. `Dalberg eventually offered Schiller an appointment as resident playwright with the
Mannheim theatre`. However, when Schiller’s contract expired after a year, it was not
renewed.
`Don Carlos, his first major drama in iambic pentameter was published` in 1787.
He died in 1805 and due to the fragments that remain of his potential final play, Demetrius,
it would have developed in to a success.
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Friedrich-Schiller
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Born November 10th, 1759
Served `as a military doctor` after studying medicine
Well-known for his stage plays
`underrated as an author due to the fact that he lived and wrote in the same time as
Goethe`
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0771646/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm